Market-Proof Your Brokerage Yacht
An industry insider reveals tips and tricks for marketing and selling your boat in any economy.
An industry insider reveals tips and tricks for marketing and selling your boat in any economy.
‘WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE OR TWO YEARS, EVER SINCE ABOUT 2009, THE BROKERAGE MARKET HAS GROWN, ON AVERAGE, 14 TO 17 PERCENT A YEAR.’ —MARK DUNCAN
Mark Duncan had some time on his hands. He’d spent a decade leading the marketing department at Yachting Partners International, and it would be months before he assumed the role of business development director at Fraser, this past October.
He used the free time to write a nearly 450-page book that reveals much of what ultra-high-net-worth clients have long paid those companies and others to tell them in private meetings, about the best ways to market and sell yachts everywhere from Monaco to Fort Lauderdale.
“I just found myself in a position of having three or four months of imposed gardening leave, and then another six months or so of doing consultancy,” says Duncan, who released “Smart Yacht Marketing 101” this past winter in hardcover and e-book formats. “For the better part of a year, I was neutral and not having to worry about sharing secrets.”
While the book is written primarily for industry brokers, its tips, tricks and suggestions for marketing brokerage and charter yachts likely will be useful to owners and captains as well. The chapters explain how great, good and below-average companies approach marketing and sales, giving readers insight into what the best brokers should be doing, and how to ask questions to find and work with those brokers.
As of mid-December, Duncan says, yacht owners entering the brokerage market with the right message had a good chance of finding buyers. The number of yachts 78 feet (24 meters) and larger sold in 2018 was higher than the number sold in 2017, which in turn was higher than 2016’s sales.
“With the exception of one or two years, ever since about 2009, the brokerage market has grown, on average, 14 to 17 percent a year,” Duncan says. “The pricing on boats is not dropping in any significant way, and the number of boats being sold is increasing, and the average size is hanging around about 37 to 39 meters [121 to 128 feet]. That’s healthy. Not only that, but when you look at many of the shipyards, they are not even taking orders until 2021. Is it a booming, wonderful market? I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s still growing, and there’s tons of room for growth.”
Selling a yacht in these or any other market conditions, Duncan says, is about far more than setting the right price. It doesn’t matter if a yacht is newer or older, in great shape or in need of a refit, or built to a custom pedigree or on a production line. With the right approach to figuring out a yacht’s unique selling points—really knowing what makes a boat special, and then marketing that message in the right ways—any yacht has just as good a chance as any other of finding eager buyers.
The trick for yacht owners, Duncan says, is working with brokers who are willing to put in the work that’s required to determine and properly package those unique selling points.